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Eleven Royals to participate in 2017 World Baseball Classic

Press Release |

Major League Baseball announced rosters for the 2017 World Baseball Classic tournament this evening and 11 players from the Kansas City Royals' organization will be part of the tournament, which begins on March 6. The list includes six players -- Drew Butera (Italy), Danny Duffy (USA), Alcides Escobar (Venezuela), Eric Hosmer (USA), Salvador Perez (Venezuela) and Joakim Soria (Mexico) -- currently on the Royals' 40-man roster.

This year's tournament will be the third for Butera, who played with the Netherlands in 2009 and was a member of Team Italy in 2013, while Hosmer, Perez and Soria will be participating in their second tournaments. Duffy and Escobar will be making their first WBC appearances.

Other players participating from the organization include: catcher Allan De San Miguel (Australia) and shortstop Mauricio Ramos (Colombia), who both played at Northwest Arkansas in 2016; left-handed pitcher Jake Kalish (Israel), who was at Wilmington last season; Lexington right-handed pitcher Gabe Cramer (Israel) and Idaho Falls catcher Meibrys Viloria (Colombia).